Russian State Newspaper Duped By Parody About U.S. Military Strikes On FIFA

The Russian government’s official daily newspaper appears to have been duped by a satirical report stating that U.S. Senator John McCain supports American “military action” against FIFA after Switzerland this week arrested seven officials with global soccer’s governing body on corruption charges.

In a May 29 op-ed published by Russia’s state-owned Rossiiskaya Gazeta, the author states as a fact that McCain “has decided to sic the Pentagon” on FIFA after the officials were arrested in Zurich on May 27 based on a request by U.S. prosecutors.

“It seems the time is not far off when McCain will demand that American forces invade the UN headquarters,” writes the author, Vladislav Vorobyov.

The kindling for Vorobyov’s rage, however, was a parody piece by the well-known American satirist Andy Borowitz that was published May 28 on the website of the the U.S. magazine The New Yorker.

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Russia’s leadership, including President Vladimir Putin, have reacted angrily to the arrest of the FIFA officials in connection with a U.S. corruption case and a Swiss criminal probe linked to the bidding process that awarded Russia the World Cup in 2018 and Qatar the World Cup in 2022.